Virginia court upholds spammer conviction - barely
Overdue.
The Virginia Supreme Court yesterday affirmed the country’s first felony conviction for spamming, rejecting claims that a state anti-spamming law is overly broad and violates free speech.
Jeremy Jaynes was sentenced in 2004 to nine years in jail by a Loudoun County Circuit Court jury that found he violated the Virginia Anti-Spam Act, which defines spam as unsolicited bulk e-mail sent by fraudulent means.
In a 4-3 decision, the state Supreme Court dismissed Jaynes’ argument that the law violates the federal Commerce Clause of the Constitution and said the First Amendment does not protect misleading commercial speech. It also upheld the jurisdiction of Loudoun, which was chosen because Jaynes’ e-mails traveled through a server from Sterling-based AOL.
Do you feel like donating to his defense committee?
Posted: Tue - March 4, 2008 at 06:54 AM